Sunday, June 28, 2015

Medicine: A Curious Mix of Eugenics & Philanthrocapitalism

Eugenics in the United States Today: Are we on the same path Nazi Germany followed?

For the full article please visit:
http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/eugenics-in-the-united-states-today-are-we-on-the-same-path-nazi-germany-followed/

Why did so many German doctors join the Nazi Party early?

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160252712000854

During the Weimar Republic in the mid-twentieth century, more than half of all German physicians became early
joiners of the Nazi Party, surpassing the party enrollments of all
other professions. From early on, the German Medical Society played the
most instrumental role in the Nazi medical program, beginning with the
marginalization of Jewish physicians, proceeding to coerced
“experimentation,” “euthanization,” and sterilization, and culminating
in genocide via the medicalization of mass murder of Jews and others
caricatured and demonized by Nazi ideology. Given the medical oath to
“do no harm,” many postwar ethical analyses have strained to make sense
of these seemingly paradoxical atrocities. Why did physicians act in
such a manner? Yet few have tried to explain the self-selected Nazi
enrollment of such an overwhelming proportion of the German Medical
Society in the first place. This article lends insight into this paradox
by exploring some major vulnerabilities, motives, and rationalizations
that may have predisposed German physicians to Nazi
membership—professional vulnerabilities among physicians in general
(valuing conformity and obedience to authority, valuing the prevention
of contamination and fighting against mortality, and possessing a basic
interest in biomedical knowledge and research), economic factors and
motives (related to physician economic insecurity and incentives for
economic advancement), and Nazi ideological and historical
rationalizations (beliefs about Social Darwinism, eugenics, and the
social organism as sacred). Of particular significance for future
research and education is the manner in which the persecution of Jewish
physician colleagues was rationalized in the name of medical ethics
itself. Giving proper consideration to the forces that fueled “Nazi
Medicine” is of great importance, as it can highlight the conditions and
motivations that make physicians susceptible to misapplications of
medicine, and guide us toward prevention of future abuse.

The New Prophets of Capital

A deft and caustic take down of the new prophets of profit, from Bill Gates to Oprah

As
severe environmental degradation, breathtaking inequality, and
increasing alienation push capitalism against its own contradictions,
mythmaking has become as central to sustaining our economy as
profitmaking.

Enter
the new prophets of capital: Sheryl Sandberg touting the capitalist
work ethic as the antidote to gender inequality; John Mackey promising
that free markets will heal the planet; Oprah Winfrey urging us to find
solutions to poverty and alienation within ourselves; and Bill and
Melinda Gates offering the generosity of the 1 percent as the answer to a
persistent, systemic inequality. The new prophets of capital buttress
an exploitative system, even as the cracks grow more visible.

http://www.versobooks.com/books/1845-the-new-prophets-of-capital

Philanthrocapitalism,
past and present: The Rockefeller Foundation, the Gates Foundation, and
the setting(s) of the international/global health agenda

http://www.hypothesisjournal.com/?p=2503#sthash.LtXqNdhS.dpuf

Secret World War II Chemical Experiments Tested Troops By Race

by John P. ThomasHealth Impact News
This is the first part of a two part series exploring the
relationship between the controversial eugenics movement of the past and
modern genetics. Eugenics was dedicated to cleansing and purifying
humanity from “inferior” members with the hope of solving various social
problems related to poverty, disability, and illness. To accomplish
this, it sought to create a superior race of people and to use forced
sterilization and extermination to eliminate future generations of
defective human beings. Darwin’s theory of evolution was used to justify
the practice of eugenics. Later, when eugenics fell from favor, modern
genetics began to grow up from the ashes of the former movement.
When Adolf Hitler applied Darwin’s theory of evolution and the
principles of eugenics to the goals of the German state, the result was
the murder of eleven million men, women and children. These lives were
sacrificed in the name of eugenics. Eugenicists were seeking to improve
the conditions of life for humanity by creating a “superior” race of
people.
The eugenics movement had a very dark side, which led to social
control, loss of reproductive freedom, and the loss of life. Should we
be concerned that modern genetic science might have a dark side as well?
Will the fruit of genetic research be misused by ill-intentioned people
to gain control over others as happened with eugenics in the past? Has
modern genetics completely severed itself from its roots? Or, might it
become the tool that will be used to try to create a master class of
genetically superior human beings in America?
What are the deceptions and dangers of the modern genetics movement?
Does true health and true happiness lie in the human genome? Are we
really bound to the set of genes that we received from our parents, or
can we overcome what we were given? What are the factors that activate
or deactivate certain genes, and how can we control the expression of
our genetic make-up to promote our health and the health of our
children? What are the motivations of certain groups who want us to
believe that genes control every aspect of our lives – that we have no
other options than to suffer while genetic scientists look for genetic
cures for all that ails us? Are we really more than our genes or is our
genetic code all there is?
These questions and many more will be examined in these articles. Let’s begin by learning about the development of eugenics.

Eugenics in a Nutshell

The word Eugenics means “good genes.” Eugenicists believe that
principles of Darwin’s theory regarding “the survival of the fittest”
can be used to support the elimination of weak and undesirable people
from society. They believe that human beings are inherently no different
than animals, and therefore we can and should be bred like animals. A
farmer does not allow deficient cows in his herd to reproduce, and in
the same way, eugenicists believe that certain people in our society
should control human reproduction.
Simply put, eugenics consists of rational methods for putting
evolution on the fast track, so that only the “best” people will
reproduce and become superior beings. It is also the fast track for
helping inferior families and inferior groups of people to stop their
reproduction and to quickly die out.
Eugenicists believe that natural attraction, affection, and love
between men and women should not be the basis upon which procreation
should be based. Rather, scientists and the medical system should
provide scientific and common sense control over the individuals who
should be allowed to mate with one another. People with the best traits
should be encouraged to reproduce, and those with defective traits
should be prevented from producing children by various methods such as
sterilization, segregation, and, if necessary, death.
- See more at:
http://healthimpactnews.com/2015/eugenics-in-the-united-states-today-are-we-on-the-same-path-nazi-germany-followed/#sthash.7CP8NbfZ.2QjnlZBC.dpuf